Softness and Light

Dear Diary,

With all the terrible news in the world...the wars, the terrible wild fires that grip the west with more loss of young lives, the daily hateful rhetoric that fills the internet and the nightly news, I was in need of a bit of softness and gentle light this morning.  I found it just a few feet from my front porch.

I love Fountain Grass which is an annual here in Maine.  The lovely magenta color tinged with pink and the way its seed heads softly catch the light.  The delicate leaves, the shadows and contrasting green all were incredibly soothing to my spirit today.

When the world becomes just a bit too much for me all I need do is turn to the natural world all around me for restoration.  Stroking these soft seed heads instantly quiets my soul.  If I focus only on them and the flickering light for awhile I find the rest I need.  I can return to the "real" world more able to brave the terrible things I find there.  I know there is another reality available to me whenever I need it and I am supremely grateful.  I love the poetry of Evelyn Underhill and this brief passage from her is especially true today:

I come in the little things,
Saith the Lord:
Not borne on morning wings
Of majesty, but I have set my feet
Amidst the delicate and bladed wheat...